Emery Layton
Emery Layton (born June 27th, 1992) is an Irish professional wrestler currently signed to the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance. '''She is also signed to '''DARCPro Sports and Union Battleground, where she is the inaugural and current Trench-War Champion. Emery is notable for her background as an Irish Traveller, and has wrestled in independent promotions based in Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom and across North America, developing a very small cult following for herself in the process. Early life Emery was born into a family of Irish travellers, although her grandmother was of Romanian descent. She was the only girl in a family of six other brothers, so naturally she became a bit of a tomboy quite early on, despite her mother's attempts to try and change this and put her on the step of being a traditional Lackeen. Her father was a bare-knuckle fighting champion, and would often take Emery to fights with him, knowing she'd understand it in a different way to her brothers. With no actual school education due to moving from town to town, Emery would often visit libraries to read up on other cultures, countries and languages, usually sneaking the books out. It was through this she would find out about professional wrestling. She would then sneak out magazines and books about wrestling over time, developing a passion for it despite never actually seeing it in-person. It was at age 15 when her mother was preparing an arranged marriage for her that Emery fled her family's settlement without warning, in pursuit of a career in wrestling. Professional Wrestling Career Early Career Emery managed to find a professional wrestling school where she could receive training. During this time, she moved in with another girl that she met at the school and would live with her for the duration of her training. Only a few months later, Emery would wrestle her first match aged only fifteen at an independent promotion in Dublin, in front of ten people. In this match, she broke her ankle and would be sidelined for eight weeks. When she came back, she would realise how quickly she would need to mature in order to make sure she got by. Emery took a "territory" approach to the business from that point on, staying in promotions for six months before moving onto the next, but accepting any bookings she could find. She would send VHS tapes to promoters of herself wrestling other people, and would deliberately ask to be booked against taller or larger people. As she was just over five foot, this was done to make her appear more impressive in any footage she'd send to promoters. After toiling away for the next few year and a half, Emery's travels around Ireland would get her noticed by a visiting British promoter, who then convinced her to come over for a few shows. She had four matches, the first three of which she lost. She also became part of the ring-crew for the British promotion's travelling show, helping set up the show before curtain. Her passion for wrestling did not go unnoticed, as she would quite regularly quiz wrestlers on matches, moves and how to get by in the business. An older wrestler would become impressed with her and offer to get her a job in a small Japanese all-women's promotion. Emery would accept this and join said promotion shortly thereafter. After developing connections in Japan, Emery would spend the next few years moving between Japan and Mexico, learning to adapt to a more lucha-libre style. As she passed through the early 2010s, she would grow in confidence and through her mannerisms and overall quirkiness, developed a following with Mexican and Japanese audiences. It was during an appearance in Osaka, Japan that she would catch the eye of Bella Quinn, recently appointed co-owner of the XWA. Xtreme Wrestling Alliance (2016-present) Layton & Fenric (2016-present) On October 6th 2016, the XWA announced that it had signed Emery to a contract. This would be the first time Emery had been signed to a North American promotion. Not much information was given at the time aside from an official press release and an announcement from both sides on social media channels. At the Press Conference for the upcoming XWA Legends, it was confirmed Layton would make her in-ring debut in a match at the Supershow against Chris Novak, locked in Caged Carnage. Emery would go on to win the match, the first person to ever defeat Novak at the annual Legends show. As the new year began, it was confirmed Emery was now exclusive to the bi-weekly show Massacre and would immediately find herself at odds with the Fenrics, a subsidiary of the super-faction known as The Survivors, after she was seen to steal Massacre General Manager Richard J Maxwell's wallet. In an ambush by Solomon and Franz Fenric, she would be aided by their eldest brother Adam Fenric, whom they had excommunicated from the group due to his inability to lead them to success. The next week on Massacre, Emery suggested to Adam that they should form an alliance, believing that there was more to the ambush than her actions against Maxwell, but Fenric initially declined her offer. A week later, Emery was ambushed in the ring by Fenric's family once again, however once again Adam Fenric would intervene and fight alongside Emery. It was then announced that Emery and Adam would participate in the first ever XWA Tag Team Classic tournament as their newly formed alliance "Layton & Fenric". Union Battleground (2017-present) Trench War Champion (2017) In December 2016, it was announced Emery Layton had signed a contract with Union Battleground, and would participate in the company's tournament to crown the inaugural Union Battleground Champion. Emery would make it to the final four in the tournament before being taken out by Tweeder, but at the promotion's first Pay Per View "The Battle of Los Angeles", Emery Layton would face Sakaguchi Kyoshi, where she was crowned the inaugural Union Battleground Trench-War Champion. Other promotions (2016-present) In 2017, Emery participated in DARC Pro Sports "Birthday Bash" event in January, taking part in a Six-Pack Challenge-Plus-One match to represent the XWA, where she became a two-time Interim DARC Horse Champion, losing the title only ten seconds before the timer ended to Crystal Millar. She would also appear on the first episode of Energy, facing and defeating Cory Chevelle. In April 2017, Emery joined the Laurel Anne Hardy's promotion Filthy Bazaar ''and will make her debut at "like light tubes n shit, yknow", participating on both Night 1 and 2. Personal life In spite of her upbringing, Emery does not believe in any sort of religion, though initially raised as a Roman Catholic. She is known to have dealt with alcoholism for a long time, something she freely admits to. While living the 'traveller' lifestyle, Emery has made multiple friends across the industry with fellow wrestlers such as Trixie, Christina Hamilton, Molly Reid, Laurel Anne Hardy, Michael Swift and Austin Carter. Emery is able to speak the languages of Irish Gaelic, Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin as well as some partial German and French. As a result of a brutal match during her tenure in Japan, Emery is deaf in her left ear and has been for many years. Emery is known to be a fan of grunge rock but is also a massive fan of English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, who she regards as an influence on her persona. Wrestling Persona While not overtly a 'gimmick' due to it's factual origins, Emery Layton's wrestling persona draws from her background as an Irish traveller, but also from her roguish, free-spirited mindset that she has developed over time. She has become popular with the fans due to her odd mannerisms, devil-may-care attitude and her incorporation of humor. She has been seen to show signs of kleptomania, although usually it is directed at heels and always explained as being in response to something they've done, not a genuine case. Her story of a 'girl who threw away her family to pursue her dream' is a hook that is mentioned quite frequently in situations that require her to be seen as sympathetic. Her general recklessness and negligence for forward-planning is often portrayed as a character flaw. In Wrestling *'Finishing moves''' **'The Prikasa' ''(Top Rope Diving Cutter)'' **Reverse Frankensteiner *'Signature moves' **Running High Knee **Slingblade **Standing Moonsault Senton **Step-up Enziguri **Straight-Jacket Crossface *'Nicknames' **'"The Lethal Lackeen"' **'"The Worst of the Pavees"' **"The Journeylass" *'Entrance themes' **'"Somewhere Else To Be" by VAST' Championships and Accomplishments *Union Battleground Trench-War Championship (Current) *Interim DARC Horse Championship (2x) External links XWA BattleZone Profile Category:Wrestlers